THE House of Representatives' Committee on Public Accounts has resolved to summon the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to explain alleged shortfall of N7 billion in government revenue from the corporation from 2006.
The Committee chaired by Solomon Adeola, said it would also query other agencies, including the Directorate of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Petroleum Pipelines Marketing Company (PPMC) and the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) as well as the Ministry of Petroleum over the issue.
According to Adeola, the panel would be instituting a comprehensive probe into the operation of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), which, according to him, has not remitted any revenue into government coffers despite the fact that it has been operating in the country for seven years.
The lawmaker said the budget proposal submitted by the executive to the National Assembly does not reflect revenue expected from gas, adding that it would be unacceptable to the House for the Presidency to lump it up as revenue coming from other sources.
He also disclosed that the committee is working hard to ensure that the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation gets its budget as a first line charge from the Federation Accounts for it to be actually independent to be able to discharge its responsibilities judiciously.
Speaking on the resolution of his Alimosho Federal Constituency in the ongoing constitution amendment process, Adeola said his people, "who are more than three million in population", are demanding creation of two additional local councils for the area.
He also disclosed that his constituents kicked against the creation of more states just as they rejected constitutional roles for traditional rulers. According to him, the people, like their South West kith and kin, are skeptic about the motive behind the proposal for federal recognition for traditional rulers.
